Litter pick-up device



2, 1966 c. B. RASMUSSEN 3,264,028

. LITTER PICK-UP DEVICE Filed. Feb. 14, 1964 34 32 BY I 33 {'7' I Z'T k/VH United States Patent 3,264,028 LITTER PICK-UP DEVICE (lhristian B. Rasmussen, Box 303, Sanborn, Iowa Filed Feb. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 344,847 1 Claim. (Cl. 29419) My invention relates to a litter pick up device.

An object of my invention is to provide a device which will allow a person to conveniently pick up papers, cigarettes, or any other materials which can then be deposited into a convenient receptacle.

A further object of my invention is to provide a positively acting pick up device which will insure that the litter, etc. is firmly grasped, and which device can be readily released, the device .also including features wherein more than one article can be picked up before being deposited.

with these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of my device,

FIGURE 2 is a detail of a portion of the device showing the device holding more than one article, and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view of FIGURE 1 taken along the lines 3-3 thereof.

In describing my invention I have used the character to designate .an elongated tubular member, the member 10 being bent at 11 into a further angularly bent portion to which is attached the handle portion 12.

I have further used the characters 13 and 14 to indicate elongated slots, and the character 15 indicates a loop which is an integral extension of the heavy wire member 16 which includes the elongated portion 17 passing through the tube 10, the portion 17 extending into the further integral portion 18 which is pivotally secured at 19 to the rod 20, the rod 20 including an ear or lug portion 21 attached thereto and mounted within the expanded portion 22 of the member 10, the member 2 1 being suitably pivoted by means of a bolt 23, the portion 22 including open slots at 24 to allow for rocking of the bar 20 when pivoted, and attached at 25 to the bar 20 is a helical spring 26 suitably attached as at 27 to the tube 10.

The rod 20 is slightly bent angula-rly outwardly at 28 and into the integral portion 29 which terminates in the downwardly bent end portion 30. Attached within the portion 22 at 31 is a substantially horizontally positioned rod or bar 32 which terminates in the pointed end 33 and attached at 34 to the bar 32 is the substantially U-shaped member 35 having the outwardly bent portions 36, the member 35 acting as .a guide to the rod portion 29.

The device is used in the following manner. The device will usually be operated in the position shown in FIGURE 1, however it is capable of being slightly moved angularly for difierent objects if such is desired, and it will be noted that the pointed end 33 of the bar 32 can be readily positioned under any object whereby the object will pass over the bar 32, and then the loop 15 which receives the forefinger of the hand is pulled upwardly which will correspondingly bring the bar 20 and the bar portion downwardly to grasp the objects between the portion 29 and the bar 32, and as shown in FIGURE 2, whereupon the objects can thence be placed over the receptacle and the forefinger is released whereby the spring 26 will carry the parts back to normal position. The bent portion 30 insures a firm retention of papers and other objects, and the outwardly bent portion also permits graspment of more than one article, and where-by one or more articles can be picked up before being released into the container. For instance, as shown in FIGURE 2, two objects shown by the dotted structure can be held, first by picking up one object and then the other since the portion 29 will be substantially parallel to the bar 32.

The member 35 insures that the movable bar 20, 29 is maintained in a true vertical position at all times to thereby further insure proper working of the tool.

It will now be noted that I have provided the advantages mentioned in the objects of my invention with further advantages being apparent.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim .as my invention:

A litter pick up device comprising a vertical lengthened tube, a handle attached at one end of said tube, a horizontal single fixed bar attached at the lower end of said tube, a further single bar pivotally attached to said tube and spaced 'from said single bar and being generally parallel thereto throughout its range of operation, said further single bar being adapted to move towards said bar during a pick up action, said single fixed ba-r having a H pointed end, said single fixed bar including a substantially U-shaped guide member attached thereto in which said further single bar moves, said further single bar having an outwardly bent end portion, said end portion having a bent-over end portion .adapted to lie exterior-ly of, and closely adjacent to said pointed end when said further single bar approaches said single fixed bar, a spring attached to said further single bar and said handle for retracting said further single bar from said single fixed bar, a lengthened wire received in said tube, including an upper finger grip portion and being connected to said further single bar.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,213,278 1/1917 Seashore 294- 19 1,245,924 11/1917 Johnson 294104 X 1,337,398 4/ 1920 Fleckner 294--19 2,189,713 2/1940 Hansen 294l04 X 2,806,733 9/1957 Hund 294-50.9 2,905,498 9/ 1959 Lunde 29419 3,105,715 10/1963 Happ 294-61 GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Examiner.

G. F. ABRAHAM, Assistant Examiner. 

